Flights cancelled as Beijing blanketed in snow
Posted: 10 November 2009 1737 hrs

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BEIJING - Nearly 70 flights were cancelled and more than 30 delayed at Beijing's airport Tuesday after the second major snow storm of the season blanketed the Chinese capital, airport officials said.

Travel was severely disrupted in the morning as crews removed snow from runways and de-iced planes following an overnight storm that included a few claps of thunder, the airport authority said in a statement.

Airport operations returned to normal later in the day, it added.

The airport appeared better prepared than on November 1, when the earliest snowfall to hit Beijing in 22 years delayed 200 flights.

Officials readily admitted the first storm was artificially induced, sparking anger among residents whose heat had yet to be switched on.

On Tuesday, an official at the Beijing Meteorological Bureau who asked not to be named said: "As far as I know, the snow was not modified -- it's natural. Thunder rarely happens in the winter, but it has happened a few times."

Beijing was not the only area affected -- a large swathe of northern China was covered by snow, shutting down major highways and closing the airport in Shanxi province's Taiyuan city, just west of Beijing, Xinhua news agency said.

Meteorologists predict further snowfall in northern China over the next two days, the report said.

- AFP/ir